Meta

In just three days, Times Square will turn into every theatre lover’s dream as Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS presents the 26th Annual Broadway Flea Market & GrandAuction. The all day, outdoor extravaganza features celebrities from Broadway’s biggest shows, live and silent auctions with once-in-a-lifetime experiences and exclusive backstage access, and one-of-a-kind theatre treasures.

Spend this Sunday, September 23, 2012, with Broadway Cares and thousands of other theatre fans in Times Square, Shubert Alley and along West 44th Street. Open 10 AM – 7 PM, this not-to-be-missed event for every Broadway theatergoer is free and open to the public.

Among the priceless lots available through this year’s Grand Auction are an opportunity to meet the legendary Barbra Streisand, a private lunch with stage-and-screen icon Angela Lansbury, opening night VIP tickets to 15 of this season’s new Broadway shows, the shirts off Hugh Jackman’s and Ricky Martin‘s backs – literally, and much more.

From posing for photos with your favorite Broadway and television stars, to buying that lost cast recording, autographed show posters and Playbills, rare costume sketches or special gift you can’t find anywhere else – the Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction promises something for everyone.

Broadway and Off-Broadway shows will be represented at flea market tables offering show biz memorabilia not available anywhere else, including props and set pieces, custom-made keepsakes from costumes and rigging, handcrafted ornaments and dolls, and other theatrical riches.

The Grand Auction, always a highlight of the event, will take place this year in the Times Square pedestrian plaza between 46th and 47th Streets. The Grand Auction is divided in two parts: a daylong series of silent auctions and a live auction that wraps up the day.

The live auction starts at 4:30 PM. Among the more than 40 astounding lots up for bid are:

– An unforgettable private lunch with stage-and-screen legend Angela Lansbury, winner of five Tony Awards and a three-time Oscar and 18-time Emmy nominee

– The ultimate Barbra Streisand experience, featuring VIP tickets to her upcoming concert at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, a backstage meet and greet with Streisand and her band, a souvenir book and a signed copy of her new CD

– Shirts worn onstage by Hugh Jackman and Ricky Martin during their Broadway performances, autographed and dated by each actor

– Backstage meet and greets with Matthew Broderick, Ricky Martin, Kelli O’Hara, Rory O’Malley, Bernadette Peters, Frankie Valli, the casts of Once and War Horse and more

– Opening night VIP tickets and party passes to Annie, The Heiress, Kinky Boots, Matilda, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and 10 other new Broadway shows

– Tickets to the New York movie premiere of the much-anticipated Les Misérables, starring HughJackman, RussellCrowe, and AnneHathaway

– Walk-on roles at Chicago, The Lion King, Mamma Mia!, Newsies, The Phantom of the Opera, and Rock of Ages

This year’s live auction will be hosted by Broadway veteran John Bolton (A Christmas Story) with BC/EFA’s iconic auctioneer Lorna Kelly and Broadway actress and auctioneer Tasha Lawrence.

Earlier in the day, a new collection of silent auction lots will be up for bid every 30 minutes beginning at 10 AM. Among the one-of-kind theatre memorabilia available are:

– Autographed props and wardrobe pieces from American Idiot, Clybourne Park; How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying; Magic/Bird; Next to Normal; One Man, Two Guvnors; Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark; Three Days of Rain;and Wicked

– Musical phrases written by and signed by Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz, Alan Menken and Jack Feldman, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli, Amanda Green and Tom Kitt, MauryYestin, DickScanlon and JeanineTesori, TomKitt and BrianYorkey, LynnAhrens and StephenFlaherty, and more

– Playbills, posters, CDs and other theatre memorabilia signed by the companies of The Best Man; The Book of Mormon; Death of a Salesman; Evita; How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying; Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway; The Public Theater’s Into the Woods; The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess;and more

Also this year, a special “flash auction” will feature an instant experience with Andrea McArdle, the original Annie, who will welcome one lucky winner onstage as she sings her famous rendition of “Tomorrow” (in its original key). She’ll also pose for a photo with the winner immediately following her performance.

More than 60 celebrities are scheduled to appear at the always-popular Autograph Table and Photo Booth. Each hour, beginning at 11 AM, a new group of celebrities will take their places on the deck of Junior’s Restaurant next to Shubert Alley. In exchange for donations to Broadway Cares, fans can get autographs and or step into the photo booth with their favorite stars. This year’s line-up includes Steve Kazee from Once;Kate Arrington, Ed Asner and Michael Shannon from Grace;Ari Graynor from The Performers;Rob McClure from Chaplin;Judy Kaye and Michael McGrath from Nice Work If You Can Get It;Harvey Fierstein from Newsies and Kinky Boots;Stephanie J. Block and Jessie Mueller from The Mystery of Edwin Drood;Danny Burstein from Golden Boy; Debra Monk from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; as well as Tyne Daly, Malcolm Gets, Jan Maxwell, Donna Murphy, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Bebe Neuwirth, Bernadette Peters, Anthony Rapp, Will Swenson and many more. For a complete list of celebrities and their appearance times, go to broadwaycares.org. All appearances are subject to change.

On Sunday, a mobile-friendly map of the Flea Market tables as well as complete lists of all silent and live auction lots will be available for smartphone users at broadwaycares.org/flea.

Attendees checking in on Foursquare at the Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auctionlocationwill receive a free 15-song Broadway playlist on iTunes, courtesy of The Broadway League.

Produced by and benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the 26th Annual Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction is sponsored by United Airlines,The New York Timesand Times Square Alliance.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the American theatre community, since 1988 BC/EFA has raised more than $195 million for essential services for people with AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States.

Broadway Cares awards annual grants to more than 400 AIDS and family service organizations nationwide and is the major supporter of the social service programs at The Actors Fund, including the HIV/AIDS Initiative, the Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative and the Al Hirschfeld Free Health Clinic.